


World Within Me

by fishcakefan



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fix-It, Time Travel, Uchiha Angst Fest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-07-08 00:03:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15918936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishcakefan/pseuds/fishcakefan
Summary: Sasuke was silent for several seconds, then he let out a breathy laugh. “What a stupid joke,” he said bitterly, “for the universe to choose me to be the last of us.”It's the end of the world, but not for long. Naruto made it possible, but it's Sasuke who has to go back and deal with things.





	1. Stillness

**Author's Note:**

> There is an abundance of stories about Naruto going back in time, and I love them. Sakura has quite the collection herself, and Kakashi often gets his own time-travel stories as well. I always found it strange that Sasuke didn't get to go back much, though. So here he is, in all his angsty glory, trying to save the world. 
> 
> I have no beta, but I did my best to go over everything. Let me know if I need to fix something!

“No.” 

“Sasuke-” 

“No.” 

Sakura clenched her fists, her face set in a determined scowl. It made the scar running from the middle of her hairline to the apple of her left cheek twist angrily. Naruto used to say that it made her look fierce and scarier than usual. Sakura always rolled her eyes and told him that he made himself look stupider than usual every time he opened his mouth. 

“He can't do it now, Sasuke. Only you can. Would you see all of his work go to waste?” 

Sasuke didn't snarl, didn't glare. His gaze stayed fixed on the figure laying in front of him. They had found a small, ramshackle cottage in the dense forests of… wherever they were now. Sasuke had gently, ever so gently, laid their teammate on the only cot in the small structure and sat on a stool by the bed. 

That had been a day ago. He hadn't moved ever since, never breaking his vigil. 

Naruto’s chest rose and fell tremulously. His breathing was ragged, choking on each inhale wetly. The seal now layered over the Yondaime’s prevented any sort of action by the Kyuubi to heal his host. 

It was almost hysterical. The world was in ruins, most of its population dead or in hiding, and it was all due to Madara’s pursuit of the bijuu in an attempt to bring about a false peace. His madness seemed to grow with each failed attempt to capture the last of the jinchuriki, and he seemed to no longer care if there were people left for him to capture in his ultimate genjutsu. He pursued his goal with a single-mindedness that left a path of destruction and death in its wake, only for his plan to be foiled by a seal created twenty-three years prior. 

In the end, the Yondaime beat Madara after all. His seal had effectively been designed to never allow Kurama to be removed from his son unwillingly. And boy, had he been unwilling. 

Madara has been a bit miffed, one could say. 

He was dead now, however. Fuck if that meant anything anymore, what with the whole world being dead. 

It hadn't even been satisfying when they had cut him down. He hadn't been fighting much. He hadn't cared anymore. He still deigned to take one last thing, however. 

The only thing holding them together. 

“The seal wasn't designed for me.” Sasuke’s voice was quiet, resolute. 

Sakura’s lips quirked. “Actually, it kinda was.” 

Sasuke’s shoulders tensed. “What,” he stated, voice flat, “do you mean?” 

Sakura was well past being any sort of intimidated by the (for real this time) last Uchiha. “Naruto didn't design the seal for only himself, Sasuke. It's designed for all of us to be able to use together, or individually.” 

He took a moment to process this, then gave a slight shrug. “Then you go.” 

Sakura was quiet, debating. She knew him well enough to have expected something like that. But it couldn't be helped. 

She walked to the other side of the cot and sat down on an old crate. Naruto’s hand was clammy and damp with sweat. She held it so that it cupped her cheek, gazing down at the features of her most precious person. He would be dead within the next twelve hours. She would stay at his side until the shinigami came to claim him, and then beg him to take her too. She knew it was selfish to be grateful that she would get to rest soon. 

“I can't, Sasuke.” 

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed but didn't leave Naruto’s face. “You have just as much chakra as I do, if not more. You've been storing chakra in that seal for years.” 

“Yes, but I won't live to see the sunrise within a few days.” She closed her eyes, taking a breath. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I wasn't sure. I've been running through all the options, examining every inch of my chakra system since we killed Madara. I can't find a way to neutralize the poison that he hit me with. I'm dying quickly. It's rotting my chakra - efficiently.” 

Sasuke was silent for several seconds, then he let out a breathy laugh. “What a stupid joke,” he said bitterly, “for the universe to choose me to be the last of us.” 

Sakura closed her eyes, breathing slowly. The silence ticked on for some time, neither speaking. 

Finally, Sasuke spoke again. “It should have been him.” 

“Yes, it should have. But there's no use in dwelling on that now.” But she knew he would anyway. Dwelling on things might as well be his full time job. Nevertheless, she continued. “You are the only one who can now, and I swear to Kami I will never forgive you if you let all his work go to rot.” 

Sasuke snorted. “You won't be around long enough to shadow me with your resentment anyway.” 

Sakura knew he cared about her, despite current evidence to the contrary. They were both just… numb. Their emotions were still there, but muted, as though they lay at the bottom of the sea while Sakura and Sasuke floated at the top, indifferent to the waves crashing over them. 

She didn't respond to his remark and they sat in silence as twilight passed and bled into evening. They were still sitting in the same positions when dawn crept over the horizon, the only changes to the scene being the tears dripping off of Sakura’s chin, the shortened breaths that Sasuke sucked in, and the stillness of the body laying on the cot in front of them. 

“Sasuke,” she whispered. “Go.” 

Sasuke's knuckles were white, his hands clenched together under his chin. She had allowed him enough time. “Sasuke.” 

Finally, his eyes closed. His breathing smoothed out. He opened them again and stood straight, then leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Naruto's. He whispered something that she didn't quite hear, and then pulled back and made his way to the pile of Naruto's belongings on the opposite side of the shack. 

The scroll was small, unobtrusive. The lines were much simpler than she would have thought. Naruto had told her that most things were simpler than people made them to be, and he believed that the reason solutions and inventions were so rare was due to people assuming they had to be complicated to work. 

Sasuke stared down at it for a moment, then looked at her. “How do I use it?” 

“Just push your chakra into it. Naruto took care of everything else.” 

His face said that he was doubtful that it would be that simple, but he really didn’t have much to lose if it went wrong. 

Their eyes met and the world paused. Sakura thought she had made peace with the fact that her story would end here, but in that moment she felt panic punch the air out of her lungs. She could try, right? Maybe... maybe she could go back too? Find Tsunade, see if she could help. It wasn’t outrageous. For a moment, not trying seemed like giving up. Finality was terrifying. 

But her chakra was corrupted. Using it with the seal could have unknown consequences. She had no idea where Tsunade would be, and if her estimate was right, she would die today. If she tried, it would be selfish. She gripped the hand she was still holding tighter, and nodded at her remaining teammate. She would stay. 

Sasuke held her gaze for a moment more, then nodded slightly. She didn’t expect or need any fancy words or promises, and he knew that. 

With one last, lingering gaze at the man lying beside her, Sasuke placed his palm over the seal he was holding and just like that, he was gone. 

Eyes closing, Sakura let out a shuddering breath. She was the last person on earth, and the world felt like it was closing in, a cavernous emptiness moving in to suffocate her. 

She had faith, though. Faith in her boys. 

Moving carefully, she laid down beside her friend. It was a tight fit, but she managed. In a past life, she would have never imagined she would be so content laying beside a corpse. In this one, she wrapped one arm around it and laid her head on its chest, closing her eyes. 

When the darkness came to swallow her, it didn’t find a quivering little girl begging for things to be different. Instead, it found a woman at peace, holding her best friend tightly to her side. Death took a step closer. 

Then the world disappeared as though it had never existed.


	2. Forward Motion

Sasuke kept his eyes closed. 

A cool breeze curled around his still form and went on its way. Leaves rustled overhead, whispering amongst themselves. Dappled light flickered across his eyelids, urging him to see what lay beyond. 

It had worked. He knew without having to look. The world had felt dead before. Now, however, he could feel the life around him, and it was overwhelming. 

He was fine with being still and letting the world move around him for a while. 

Sasuke had felt his world end many times in the twenty-three years he’d been alive. Each time he’d felt as though he should have ended with it. When his clan was murdered, he’d sometimes felt, in his darkest moments, that it was unfair that he had to stay alive without them, and that it would have been almost better to have been amongst the slaughtered. When Itachi died and he’d found the truth of why his clan was killed, the weight of being alive had made him violently ill for nights on end. 

Most looked at Sasuke and saw a man who was always composed, always organized, always prepared. Sasuke was no psychoanalyst, but he’d spent some time in the past few years confronting the inner workings of his own mind. He wasn’t sure how effective it was, but he’d formed some theories about why he was the way he was. 

After his clan was massacred, Sasuke’s mind had been a mess and had stayed that way for a while. Constant emotional turmoil derailed his chances of normality, whatever that meant for someone in his circumstances. Over time it had created a bone-deep weariness and he’d started to slowly shut down anything within his mind that drew too much energy, until all that was allowed through was what it took to take the next step forward. It was all he could handle, and it was the only way he found to keep himself moving in a forward motion. 

Naruto, though, disrupted his carefully constructed mindscape. He constantly tried to let the sun in through the curtains, dust out the old rugs, and tear down the boards over the windows. This infuriated Sasuke, and he fought back, but it was exhausting trying to keep up. Naruto was a wrecking ball, but he was also the sun, trying to gently coax life back into Sasuke like one of his happy little plants. 

Sasuke needed the darkness though, so he ran. He ran and ran and ran, but the cracks that Naruto had made were still there. Over the years, after they had reunited, he’d stopped fighting so much. Naruto had responded with gusto, and even in the darkness they lived in, Sasuke had never quite felt like he was living in the dark again. 

Now, he fought not to let the darkness swallow him whole. He had lost everything and everyone, again. 

He focused on breathing. Inhale, exhale. Repeat indefinitely. 

\- 

Ryu took pride in his ability to take most things in stride. He was an easy-going, cheerful type of fellow. So when he came upon a buck-naked, scarred man in the middle of the patch of land he’d decided to build his cottage on, he simply raised an eyebrow and scratched his chin. 

The man looked to be in some type of way. He made no indication of knowing that Ryu was observing him, but Ryu had been around enough to know that the man in front of him was probably not your run of the mill drunkard. 

He looked to be about six feet tall, with ink-black hair spiking wildly around his head, probably reaching to his shoulders if he was not lying prone on the forest floor. Harsh pink scars ran to and fro along sinewy muscles, and despite the fact that he looked strong and able, it was obvious he hadn’t had enough food for quite some time. 

He also smelled as though he had not bathed in a year. 

Ryu felt it unwise, given these observations, to try any method of moving the man. So he shrugged and went about what work he could with the man there. 

This went on for a few hours, but now he faced a dilemma. He'd reached a point in his work where he couldn't continue with the man still laying there. He sat on the ground and pulled out a pipe, contemplating. 

Suddenly, the man was standing. Ryu could only see his profile, but the man seemed to be in about the same state, just upright. His eyes, as far as Ryu could tell, were still closed. Ryu felt a bit perturbed and advised himself that this situation needed to be handled very, very delicately. 

Then the man was facing him, and Ryu realized that he was not actually sleeping on his feet. There was a wild look in his eyes, as though he was disoriented and maybe not entirely sane. Maybe he should take the man to a medic. 

“Are you alright? There’s a medic in the village about a mile South.” Ryu figured the strange man was probably not from around here and might need some directions. He was about to give more detailed instructions, or even offer to guide him to the village, when suddenly he found himself very much alone. 

Ryu scratched his chin and took a puff from his pipe. Well, nothing to do but get back to work. 

\- 

Sasuke spent three weeks just breathing. 

The air was like nectar, sweet and jubilant, unpolluted by decay. Birds twittered about in the treetops, where before the forests that remained were silent. The grass beneath his feet grew eagerly and the flowers stretched their stems, earnestly seeking out the sun. 

He didn’t belong here. It was as though he had cheated the universe and implanted himself like a weed amongst its gardens. Sasuke almost expected the grass to wither beneath his feet. 

Getting over things had never been a strength of his, but he’d become better at it over time. This, though, seemed insurmountable. 

He spent days just wandering, grieving, hating his own company. He realized, eventually, that it wasn’t exactly aimless wandering. Unconsciously, he was searching for the other parts of his soul. Every time he crested a hill, it was with the fleeting expectation that his teammates would be on the other side, bickering or laughing or just waiting. He’d become so disoriented that he sometimes expected to see Kakashi perched in a tree, reading what was left of his scorched books. Kakashi had been dead for two years now. They were all dead, erased, and Sasuke would never see them again. 

Naruto would have grieved too, he knew, but he would have also exhilarated in the fact that they were also now alive. There were things to do, people to save, and he wouldn’t have allowed his grief to paralyze him. They both loved deeply, but Naruto had always been more free with his affection. Sasuke was careful, holding few close and distancing himself from everyone else. He supposed that’s why he was so pathetically mired in the pointless devastation engulfing his core. 

It wasn’t until the end of the third week that there was a spark. 

He had managed to ascertain that he was somewhere on the edge of the Land of Water. The landscape was surprisingly varied, with no shortage of marshes, forests, and open prairies. Mountains rose in the distance, and Sasuke had seen the infamous mist surrounding them, but only from a distance. Kiri was certainly not somewhere he had any interest in traveling close to. He was busy breathing and didn’t need any distractions. 

He’d wandered far enough to reach the coastline. Waves lazily caressed the shore in front of him, the sound of the ocean a subtle hum of power that was somehow soothing. Sasuke settled on a boulder close to the ocean’s edge and stared out at the vastness before him, and time was lost again. 

Laughter brought him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He turned to observe the disturbance. A gaggle of children were playing a little ways down the shore, running into the waves and then screeching with laughter before hurrying back to the dry sand. 

Even when he himself was one, Sasuke had never liked children. It wasn’t a character trait that had changed, per se, but perspective tended to shift when you’d seen the end of the world. 

Naruto and Sakura had both loved children. Back when there had still been pockets of civilization left alive, they’d often come across the nomadic groups of civilians and shinobi alike. Naruto always played with the children, running around like a fool, playing whatever deranged games his little followers came up with. Sakura usually flitted around the camps looking for those who needed medical attention. Sasuke had observed that she was much gentler with the small humans than she had ever been with their team. She coaxed them to talk to her as she carefully spread her healing chakra into broken bones and scraped knees. Magically, the weight of their plight seemed to lift from their tired eyes as they excitedly told her all about their adventures and dreams, with an unfortunate amount of horridly stupid jokes sprinkled in. Sakura always laughed though, eyes shining up at them before she kissed them on the forehead and pronounced them good as new. 

“Children are the most important people left,” they would say, and Sasuke had understood, but he’d always had a bit of tunnel-vision. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he just didn’t see far past the people closest to him, none of whom were children anymore. 

A scream cut through his musings, different from the ones before. His eyes snapped back to where the children had been playing. 

It took less than a split second to bring the bear down. It wasn’t massive, but it was dangerous enough to defenseless children. 

Sasuke stood over its lifeless body and very suddenly realized that he wasn’t wearing anything but an old cloth draped around his waist that only reached to mid-thigh as he stood in front of the group of kids he’d just saved. There were four of them, ages ranging from about six to nine years old, all staring up at him with wide eyes. 

“Um,” he stated. 

They waited with bated breath, not moving. 

“Carry on.” He turned to leave. 

Suddenly there was a tiny form latched onto his right leg. “Don’t leave us, mister!” 

“Yeah! What if there are more bears?!” Another kid skidded to a stop in front of him, waving her arms wildly and quite dramatically, in Sasuke’s opinion. 

“There’s not.” Sasuke was sure of it, as he’d done a quick scan of the area. He tried to peel the limpet off of his leg, but to no avail. 

“You saved us,” the limpet breathed, stars in his eyes. 

“Yes,” Sasuke said. “And now I’m leaving.” 

Finally, he managed to tear the small boy off of his leg and deposit him on a soft mound of sand. He went to move forward again, only to stop when the woman he had sensed making her way quickly towards them broke through the clearing. Why he wasn’t shunshining out of there was a mystery to even himself. 

“There you are, you terrible rascals! Just where do you get the idea-” She stopped, seeming to register the scene in front of her. Her eyes moved from the children, to the dead bear, to the half-naked man staring back at her. 

Sasuke supposed he didn’t make the most reassuring sight, what with the scars and lack of clothes. Why was he still here? 

“Mama, Mama! We got attacked by a bear!” 

“Yeah! It was so scary! We were all runnin’, but the bear was so fast, and-” 

“The threat is neutralized-” Sasuke attempted to break in, only to be cast aside. 

“Then this big scary guy suddenly was there like ‘poof’ and he killed the bear with his hands!” 

The children continued to jump around excitedly, while the woman regarded him with a bemused expression. She took in his wild appearance, and would have known even without the children’s description of the events that this man was dangerous. 

She was interrupted from her observations when Miki grabbed her hand and looked up at her with puppy eyes. “Can we keep him, Mama?” 

Putting her other hand to her forehead, she sighed. “My apologies, sir. My children don’t have a normal grasp of some societal conventions.” Making a decision, she stepped forward, then bowed. “My name is Kanna, the mother of these troublesome little humans you saved. I’m sorry for any trouble they caused you.” 

Silence greeted her as she stood. The strange man stared at her for a moment, then his eyes drifted to the children who were now quiet, waiting to see what happened. Kanna tensed. 

Then he bowed, and when he straightened the look in his eyes was slightly confused, but resolute. “Sasuke. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Your children are… spirited.” 

Laughter bubbled in her chest, and the nervousness in her bones calmed. The man was dangerous, but she didn’t believe he was dangerous to herself or her minions. “That they are.” She considered, and made another decision. “You seem as though you could use a warm meal. Would you be so kind as to join us for supper? It’s the least I can offer after what you’ve done.” 

He seemed unsure, his gaze flickering towards the ocean. A soft sigh escaped, and Kanna thought he would refuse. But he didn’t. 

“Alright.” 

The children cheered, then fell silent when Kanna turned to look at them, realizing that she had not actually forgotten the circumstances that led to this like they had hoped.. “And as for you,” she said, her tone scathing, “Just what do you think you were doing playing here by yourselves? Look what could have happened!” 

She continued her rant as she and the children began to head towards the path that Sasuke assumed led to their home. Turning, he looked out at the sea once more, considering whether he’d made the right choice or should have declined. He wasn’t sure why he’d accepted to begin with. Suddenly, a small hand was gripping his. Miki grinned up at him, seemingly unperturbed by her mother’s scolding, and urged him to catch up. 

Sasuke put his feet on the path and allowed her to tug him along.


	3. Another Step

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the first few chapters a bit to help improve some details and such. I have a beta now! :D Thank you, KuroiDenki, for all of your amazing advice and help with wrangling all my mistakes! 
> 
> I know these chapters have been short, but I plan on improving the length going forward. Thank you for all of the feedback, I truly appreciate it!

Sasuke realized he was very lucky that no one had ever found out that his greatest weakness might just be dealing with children. He had no idea what to do with them. 

 

Some might point out that dealing with Naruto should have prepared him, but Sasuke could punch Naruto. Even threatening bodily harm was probably not considered acceptable in his current predicament. 

 

Kanna had apparently decided that he was relatively harmless, and after throwing a loose robe his way, had disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the supper she had promised. Sasuke was left at the mercy of the four children he’d saved, a decision which he had questioned at least seven times in the past thirty minutes. 

 

They had provided him with quite a bit of information, which was great. However, it all pertained to themselves, so it was also relatively useless in the long run. 

 

Riku was six. His birthday was just last week and he definitely Knew Everything Ever now. He liked turtles and building sandcastles, but only so he could jump on them (the sandcastles, not the turtles, he assured). 

 

Miki was seven and a half. Her favorite color was brown (a bold choice, Sasuke thought). She liked to pick flowers and eat bananas. She asked Sasuke where he came from. He told her ‘the future’ because she was seven and he couldn’t see her running to tell any kage, and also to get her to stop asking. 

 

Daichi was eight and three quarters. He would definitely be faster when he turned nine in a few months and finally be able to beat the fastest kid in the area when they raced. He liked to read and wondered if Sasuke knew any books that he might like. Sasuke recommended “The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi” because Icha Icha was not age appropriate and he had too many traumatic memories of Kakashi forcing them to listen to him read passages out loud as punishment. The only other literature he’d ever read was all about how to kill people. 

 

Hideo was nine and he advised Sasuke that he was very mature for his age. He liked to draw and offered to show Sasuke some of his work. He took Sasuke’s non-answer as an emphatic yes and pulled out a collection of artwork that was certainly… unique. Sasuke was raised with manners though, even if his friends would testify differently, so he offered some compliments. It turned out, however, that the tree he’d identified was actually a self-portrait. He was no longer on good terms with Hideo. 

 

The barrage of information and questions continued for another 15 minutes before Kanna saved him by ushering them into the kitchen to eat. 

 

It was a modest meal by most standards, but Sasuke found, to his bewilderment, that he was excessively emotional over the whole affair. When the meal was finished, he felt full for the first time in years. Mortifyingly, this fact seemed to cause his eyes to water. Deciding that he should be on his way, he went to inform his host that he was grateful for her hospitality but would impose no longer. 

 

Kanna smiled kindly at him and insisted that he should rest there tonight if he had no other plans. “Arigato, Kanna-san,” he accepted. Was that what he meant to say? Surely he needed to get back to… wandering aimlessly in search of ghosts. 

 

Instead, he found himself sleeping soundly for the first time since he’d been back. Longer than that, even, but he gave up trying to figure out when he’d last had a peaceful night’s sleep. 

 

The next morning he was awoken by the sound of childish laughter and slamming doors. He sat on the futon Kanna had pulled out for him and contemplated his options. It was another ten minutes before he pulled himself out of his ruminations and made his way towards the smell of cinnamon and coffee 

 

“Kanna-san,” he greeted as he walked into the kitchen. “Do you have anyone that assists you with your… home?” 

 

“Good Morning to you too, Sasuke-san.” She smiled his way, then pointed at the cinnamon rolls cooling on the table. “Can you spread the icing on those?” 

 

Sasuke set about completing the task, waiting for an answer to what was admittedly an ambiguous and personal question. He was known for many things, and subtlety was not one of them. He’d also spent far too much time with Naruto and Sakura, between whom he could barely get a word in edgewise. He ignored the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Sakura, telling him that he had just never talked much in general so most people never knew how terrible he was at holding a normal conversation. Another voice told him that this was what you get when your main vocabulary consisted of grunts and heated glares. Shut up, Naruto. Sasuke assured himself that he was just out of practice at talking and had bad influences. 

 

Kanna was silent for several moments as she worked on chopping fruit and placing it in a bowl. She turned to place it on the table with a sigh. 

 

“My husband’s name was Jomei. He was a fisherman, and a good one at that.” She paused, eyes turned towards the window where Sasuke could see the children playing some strange game with a small cloth ball that seemed to involve using their feet to keep it off the ground. “They’re all adopted, you know. I can’t have children of my own, so we decided to give a home to children that didn’t have anyone to look after them. Jomei was an excellent father.” Her gaze went to her hands, and she leaned back against the counter’s edge. “He left with a group of other fishermen three months ago to sell some of his catch in Kirigakure. I asked him not to go, but he insisted we needed to build up our savings more.” 

 

She looked up, meeting Sasuke’s gaze. “When he came back, it was as a corpse. We’ve been getting by on the savings we had built up, but there is a limit. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” 

 

Sasuke wondered at her openness with him, a complete stranger, especially while in such a vulnerable position. She’d essentially just revealed to him that she was alone with at least a small sum of money. Shinobi were raised to protect intel, even when it pertained to themselves, and Sasuke had always been private even outside of that. Civilians were strange sometimes. 

 

At least they existed again, he supposed. 

 

Before he could respond, Miki noticed him through the window and rushed inside with an excited shout. The rest of the kids followed suit, swarming him once again with disproportionate enthusiasm. 

 

Breakfast commenced, and afterward he was shooed off to take a shower. When he emerged, he found a soft grey yukata laid out for him. He still felt naked without his normal get-up, but it felt humanizing to wear actual clothes again. Deciding it was time to face his next great obstacle, he stepped in front of the floor-length mirror hanging from the bathroom door. 

 

Staring at the thin face looking back at him, he found himself vaguely fascinated by the familiar stranger. He hadn’t actually seen his reflection in quite a long while, and looking in mirrors hadn’t been high on his list of priorities while fighting a war. He was thinner than he remembered, his face pointier. Midnight hair reached just past his shoulders, unruly as ever. Eyes black as pitch stared back at him, haunted but resolved. 

 

His hands clenched at his sides and he straightened his spine, bracing himself to plunge back into the land of the living - this time purposefully. 

 

\- 

 

It was another three months before Sasuke set off on his own again. He spent the time helping however he could. The small garden that Kanna had started was expanded and transformed so that it could not only provide food for themselves but be fruitful enough to become a source of income from the extra produce. Anything that needed to be fixed or updated around the house was seen to, and Sasuke even built some additions to the small home. He took up fishing, which he was not very good at naturally, but who was going to scold him for cheating? He traded and bartered in the surrounding markets until he was satisfied with the cushion added to Kanna’s finances, and he taught the children what he could to help with these things when he was gone. 

 

In the midst of all this, he used the time to plan. His grief was still there, and sometimes it crashed over him in waves, but a layer of purpose kept it from paralyzing him once more. Goals had always been somewhat of a saving grace for Sasuke, as much as they had been a hindrance. The trick was to weaponize his single-mindedness so that it struck in the right direction. 

 

Today was the day he moved forward. 

 

Sasuke sat on the edge of his futon, slowly wrapping black bandages around his forearms. He had donned a simple grey vest with light armor woven into its lining, paired with equally simple black pants. Securing the last bit of the bandages in place, he stood and pulled a black cloak around his shoulders, fastening the clasps at his neck. The sword he’d found at a blacksmith’s shop in a town nearby was sheathed at his waist. It wasn’t amazing quality, but it was solid enough. Everything else that he might need was stored in scrolls and placed in the various hidden pockets of his outfit. 

 

It was time to go. 

 

The goodbyes were uncomfortably emotional, but he made it through; even if he had to accept a variety of farewell gifts from the children. One overripe banana, one ‘perfect’ skipping stone, one questionable drawing of a pirate ship, and one rainbow bouncy ball were all sealed into a scroll and added to his collection. 

 

Kanna patted his cheek and admonished him to be careful on his travels. Sasuke bowed and assured her that he would make sure it was so. Thankfully, she didn’t advise him to be safe, so he didn’t have to lie. 

 

He faced the horizon, hand on the hilt of his sword, and calmly surveyed the life around him. His head was back on his shoulders and the world wasn’t ready. Setting his sights west, Sasuke headed towards where he knew the next ship headed for the continent was scheduled to leave in a day’s time. 

 

From there it was just a matter of making his way to the Mountain’s Graveyard in order to enact the first step of his plan.


	4. Quake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled so much with this chapter. I'm sorry it's so late! I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to be the most reliable updater. I hope you can enjoy anyway, and if not I completely understand. Also, I don't currently have a beta so I hope it is coherent.

The Mountain’s Graveyard was a strange place. Bones from creatures that hadn’t existed for hundreds of years protruded from the earth, reaching far up into the sky and breaking through the hazy mist that shrouded the landscape. It was strange that so many of these bits and pieces of giant animal bones all ended up in one place, as though some large battle between different species took place at some point. Even stranger that they had not grown more brittle and still seemed to be holding up as though the battle had just happened a few decades ago.

 

Sasuke walked through the gloomy valleys and rocky hills until he came to the opening of what he knew to be a fairly extensive myriad of underground caves. Pausing, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, searching for the spark within the caves that just happened to be his oblivious target. 

 

_ There.  _ A small pulsating dot on his internal map. Alone, apparently. Zetsu must be taking a break from babysitting (indoctrinating) to go work on some other aspect of furthering his end goals. The matter was neither here nor there to Sasuke - he would destroy Zetsu, but it didn’t have to be now. He had other concerns at the moment.

 

Sasuke casually entered the caves and began strolling towards his destination. He was in no great hurry and felt no need to be overly cautious. His target was what most would classify as considerably dangerous, but Sasuke wasn’t concerned. Some would see it as foolish and over-confident, however the truth was simply that he was very aware of his own ability level and that it considerably outstripped his would-be opponent at their current stage.

 

When he finally rounded the last corner and his target was revealed, he was reminded of his genin days and chasing runaway cats into corners, where they would crouch and hiss and act in general as though they were ready to claw your eyes out. Obito stood in the corner, mask on, but with an aura of clear contempt and bristling anger, clearly only waiting long enough to see if he should attack or bolt.

 

Sasuke met the heated glare and simply stood there for a moment, then sat on a convenient ledge jutting out from the cave’s wall, leaning back and crossing his legs. “So far your hospitality is a bit lacking,” he lazily intoned.

 

Obito looked fit to have an aneurysm. “What?”

 

Sasuke sighed long-sufferingly. “Traditionally you greet your guests when they cross your threshold.”

 

“What- who the fuck are you? I didn’t invite you!”

 

_ Still just a teenager.  _ “As I said, I’m a guest. Not that you’ll be living here much longer.” 

 

Puffing up with rage, Obito snarled. “I don’t know who you are, but either you leave right now or I  _ will  _ kill you.”

 

Sasuke cocked his head slightly to the side, considering. “Savage enough to release a tailed beast onto your village, but not enough to attack an unknown shinobi waltzing into your living space without warning? What a strange set of principles.”

 

That seemed to be the last straw. Obito disappeared, but Sasuke was ready. The rinnegan flared in his left eye at the same moment that Obito reappeared in front of him, kunai slashing towards his throat. Sasuke caught the wrist headed towards his jugular and met the harsh gaze of the boy currently trying to kill him, and suddenly they were somewhere else.

 

-

 

Obito stood still for a moment, activating kamui and waiting - but that wasn’t right, he never had to wait for the effects to take place. Wrenching away from his opponent, he lept back several paces and took stock of his situation, only to scramble forward when he realized he was on top of some sort of circular pillar and that when he looked down he could only see  _ the tops of fucking clouds. _

 

The platform they were standing on had about a twelve-foot diameter and absolutely no barriers between the surface and what Obito could only assume would be a very long fall. Black lines in no discernable pattern ran to and fro in what he guessed was some sort of seal, even though he’d never seen one that looked so random. 

 

How the fuck did his day get to this point?

 

Obito tried to activate kamui again, desperate to get off the tower of doom. When that failed, he began to panic. He was in an unfamiliar place (above the fucking clouds!) with what he assumed was an enemy, kamui wasn’t working, and most notably - he was terrified of heights.

 

There was a roaring in his ears and his breath was coming out in short gasps. Faintly, he heard someone talking, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying over the terror slowly eating him alive. Suddenly there were hands on his shoulders and he looked up to see calm black eyes looking into his own. “Obito.  _ Breathe. _ ” 

 

Easy for them to say. Nevertheless, Obito made an effort to calm his heartbeat and take in fuller lungfuls of air. Somehow, even if it was an enemy, having someone else holding onto him helped him feel less as though he was going to fall if he twitched in the wrong direction.

 

“Come to the center and sit down before you faint and fall off the edge,” the stranger directed, his tone firm. Obito shook his head, unable to voice that he was incapable of moving. Sighing, the man put an arm around his waist. “Hold on.”

 

All of his pride had taken a far backseat to his terror, so Obito clung to the man like he was drowning as they walked a few steps forward to reach the center of the circle where the man deposited him and then took a seat across from him, legs folded in a cross-legged position.

 

It seemed like hours passed until Obito was able to get his breathing under control. Once he was finally able to hear his own thoughts, something clicked.

 

“I don’t know,” he gritted out, “who ‘Obito’ is, but-”

 

“Stop,” the opposite figure cut him off. “I know who you are. I know what your plans are. I know what happened to you, and I know what you’ve done.” 

 

This was all said so calmly, so assuredly, and Obito had no idea what was going on. He tried again to activate kamui, but nothing happened. He could still activate his sharingan, but his most powerful technique, and the only one that could get him off of this cursed thing wouldn’t work.

 

“This seal was designed with you in mind. Kamui won’t work here.” The stranger -  _ who in the hell was he anyway  _ \- informed him. “The location was strategic as well. Now we can have a conversation.”

 

Obito was well and truly trapped. His phobia of heights was severe, so trying to get up and fight would probably not work out. His head was still spinning and it wasn’t just from the being so far up with no way down, but also the sequence of events ever since the man across from him had appeared. 

 

Well, fine. Time to start figuring out what the hell was going on.

 

“How,” he gritted out, “did we get here?”

 

“Wrong question.”

 

“Argh!” Obito clutched his masked face in his hands, breathed, then raised his head back up. “Fine. Who are you and what do you want?”

 

“Sasuke Uchiha. I want you to come with me.”

 

Obito narrowed his eyes behind his mask. “I’ve only ever heard of one Sasuke Uchiha, and my intel tells me he’s currently two years old.”

 

“He is.” 

 

No other explanation seemed forthcoming, so Obito prodded again. “Sooo you’re what, an Uchiha from outside the clan? Uchiha don’t just go wandering about and have families outside of Konoha. There’s no way-”

 

“Seems like you’re managing just fine.”   
  
Growling, Obito felt his patience growing thin. None of his identities should be known to anybody outside of Zetsu. Nothing made sense. 

 

The man across from him was a complete and utter mystery. Who could be capable of something like this? Obito didn’t know of anyone who could use teleportation on this scale or even design a seal like this. Complete confidence and calm seemed to blanket the man, and he was honestly quite intimidating. The man’s features fit the Uchiha profile almost too well - pale, elegant,  _ arrogant _ \- but an Uchiha this strong would have shown up on his radar already. 

 

“If you’re an Uchiha,” Obito finally voiced, “show me the sharingan.”

 

“Not all Uchiha have the sharingan, you know.”   
  
“No, but an Uchiha who can do this,” Obito gestured around them, “would probably have one.”

 

‘Sasuke’ merely gazed at him for a moment, then suddenly his eyes were very colorful. On the right was the mangekyou, blood red with a black star slowly spinning. On the left though… Obito had been told that there was only one person in the world who had the rinnegan, and he was fairly certain that Nagato wasn’t into elaborate pranks. He also hadn’t met Nagato yet, as Zetsu was still working on that bit of recruitment, so he hadn’t witnessed the rinnegan in person. 

 

What a pickle he had somehow ended up in.

 

“Okay,” Obito conceded, “So you are an Uchiha. That doesn’t explain why you’re here or what you really want. You said you want me to ‘come with you’, but what in the hell does that mean? I have things to do, people to see, I’m not in the market for some world tour. I’m quite busy with my own projects, you see, so I appreciate the sentiment-” Obito paused, considering. Well, worth a shot. “However, someone such as yourself would actually be quite helpful with my projects-”

 

“I have no interest in your plans. The Infinite Tsukuyomi is a foolish goal and even if it wasn’t, Zetsu is just using you to reach his own goals.”

 

Obito blinked. “Besides the fact that you somehow know way too much, is this your usual method for convincing people you are totally sane and they should totally come with you wherever you want to go?”

 

Sasuke shrugged. “If I was… someone else, I would probably use a different angle. Maybe I’d latch onto the subject of Rin, and how she would hate this plan, maybe even hate who you’re becoming-”

 

“Shut up, shut up,  _ shut up!” _ Obito lunged forward with the intent to tackle Sasuke to the ground, but instead, he found himself on his back, staring up into old eyes that seemed to see everything and gulping against the kunai held just below his adam’s apple.

 

“In a few years, you’ll truly be formidable. Right now, I could easily kill you and throw you over the edge of this precipice and honestly, that would make my plans a lot less complicated. But I don’t currently plan on doing so as long as you follow these simple directions: Sit still.” 

 

With that, the kunai was removed from his neck and Obito slowly sat back up. He looked up at the man standing over him who somehow knew far too much and was most definitely stronger than Obito, especially here without kamui. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?” 

 

Gracefully folding back into a sitting position, Sasuke met his gaze through the mask and calmly spoke. “If you’re ready to calm down and listen, I’ll explain.”

 

Obito took a deep breath. He could sense that everything was about to change, and that was a terrifying thought. But it was also… relieving. Honestly, he was so very tired. So he listened.

 

-

 

It had been quiet on top of the pillar for hours. Obito was still sitting cross-legged in the center, staring out into nothing. Sasuke was standing near the edge of the precipice, his posture relaxed. He wanted Obito to come to the right conclusions. Obito was a lot of things, had done a lot of things, but in the end, he was family. However, Sasuke would not find it incredibly difficult to push past that fact and kill Obito if he didn’t go the direction that he needed to. Sasuke wasn’t Naruto, even if his sharp edges were somewhat blunted due to their friendship. He saw things without Naruto’s haze of belief in humanity, and he saw Obito for who he was and what he’d done. Maybe at this point he hadn’t yet officially formed Akatsuki, killed jinchuriki, helped with the Uchiha Massacre, resurrected Madara, and generally been the catalyst for the end of the world; but he had released an angry Kurama onto Konoha, killing hundreds of innocent people and leading to the death of Naruto’s parents, and he would continue to spiral if Sasuke didn’t ensure some sort of change to his path. 

 

Obito really only had two choices here - come with Sasuke or be killed by Sasuke.

 

There’s a sniff from Obito’s direction, and Sasuke raised his eyes to the sky and begged the powers that be not to make him have to deal with tears. Heaving a small sigh, he turned and walked back to the center of the pillar, observing the hunched shoulders and bowed head of the shinobi in front of him. 

 

Slowly, Obito’s hands rose to his face, then suddenly the garish orange mask is gone and flung to the side. Obito raised his gaze to meet Sasuke’s, one black eye staring out of a scarred face, looking so very young and lost. 

 

“I-” Obito began, then cleared his throat. “I’m not him. I’m not the guy who ended up seeing the truth and- and trying to save the world in the end. I’ve been working so hard on not caring about  _ this  _ world, and I- I've done terrible things already, Sasuke, maybe not everything yet, but-”

 

“You’re right.” Sasuke interrupted. Obito’s shoulders heaved, his one eye glassy and wide. “Your actions have caused the death of hundreds in Konoha. You can’t change that. What I need to know is how you plan on going forward from now.”

 

Obito swallowed, then shook his head. “Everything you told me - it only means that I can’t fix the world. It doesn’t make me  _ wrong _ .” 

 

Sasuke’s just about reached the end of his patience. He understood that he is asking for a lot here, in theory. Most people can’t be expected to change their entire worldview in the course of a day. Naruto’s overpowered speech therapy is basically cheating, and unfortunately unavailable in this situation. Closing his eyes, he tried to think of what Naruto would say.

 

_ “I’ve been thinking-” _

 

_ “It’s a miracle!” Sakura interrupts Naruto, dramatically placing her hand over her heart, eyes wide. _

 

_ Naruto huffs and rolls his eyes, but continues. “-About Obito.” _

 

_ Kakashi eyes Naruto curiously, and Sakura tilts her head to show she’s listening from the other side of their small campfire.  _

 

_ Naruto is sprawled out on the grass next to where Sasuke is sitting, staring up into the tree canopy. Sasuke glances down towards his friend, whose eyes are soft and contemplative. “What about him?” he asks. _

 

_ “I just think, you know, he really was a good person. I mean, he was also kinda a bad person, but-” _ __  
_  
_ __ “Obito is one of the main reasons we’re all in this situation, Naruto.” Sasuke interrupted.

 

_ Sighing, Naruto sat up, brow furrowed slightly. “I know that.” _

 

_ “Most people start out as good people, Naruto,” Sakura said softly. “But everyone’s responsible for the choices they make.” _ __  
_  
_ __ The fire illuminated Naruto’s face, playing with the gold in his hair. Kakashi was still silent, though his eyes were intent on Naruto’s face.

 

_ “I know, really, I do. But sometimes I think about the person he could have been, and the person I could have been, and it makes me think that we’re really not all that different.” He shrugged, staring into the flames. “I just wish that I could have helped him more, you know?” _

 

_ Even as close as they were, Sasuke still couldn’t understand the way Naruto thought sometimes. “He basically killed your parents, dobe. He helped kill my clan. He killed jinchuriki. He-” _

 

_ “And what about Itachi, huh?” Naruto was looking at him now, gaze unflinching. “He did those things too.” _

 

_ Sasuke growled, standing over Naruto now. “He was doing what he thought he had to do-” _

 

_ “So was Obito.” Naruto gazed up at him, strangely non-confrontational. “I’m not saying he was  _ right _ , I’m just saying that I don’t think his intentions were evil. He thought that he was going to bring all those people back, right? And he thought he’d bring them back to a  _ better  _ world. In a way, he was really just trying to help everyone.” _

 

_ “And  _ look  _ where his ‘good intentions’ got us,” Sasuke returned sarcastically. _

 

_ “Alright boys, time for me to tuck you all into bed.” Kakashi finally spoke, standing and leaving no question that the conversation was done for now. Sasuke turned to his old sensei, feeling just the tiniest bit guilty knowing that Obito had been one of Kakashi’s precious people. Kakashi just gave him a pat on the shoulder, then ruffled Naruto’s hair before herding them into their sleeping rolls and taking up watch, allowing them all a few short hours of sleep before they were back to fighting an endless war.  _

 

Sasuke opened his eyes back to the present, looking down at Obito once more. 

 

“I once put my fist through my best friend’s chest,” he began. “I abandoned my village in a quest for revenge and spent years trying to get strong enough to kill my own kin. At one point I was ready to destroy Konoha, believing it to be justice. I’ve killed innocent people and hurt the people who care about me.” 

 

Obito is listening closely, a confused look on his face.

 

“In short, I’m nothing like you. I’ve killed and been ready to kill for selfish reasons. Not for the good of the world, and not even for the good of myself.”

 

Shaking his head, Obito slowly stood. “I don’t understand.”

 

“I’m telling you that I’m not standing here on the moral high ground. I know who I am and I know what I’ve done. Even if those things didn’t happen in this world, I still did them and I accept that. I can’t change  _ my  _ past, but I  _ will  _ change the future for the people who exist here. The choice you have to make is whether you will allow the weight of reality to crush you or if you’ll work to change that reality into something better.”

 

Silence reigned and Sasuke felt exhausted. He wasn’t made for speeches. He imagined that if Naruto were here they would have had this all wrapped up in less than an hour and been on their way. He wondered if his friend would be proud of his efforts to use some shadow of his Talk no Jutsu, and in the same breath he knew that Naruto would be sickeningly happy about the whole damn thing and not shut up about it for an eternity.

 

Obito took a deep breath, then nodded. “I don’t know if it will stick, but I’ll come with you. For now.”   
  
Nodding slightly, Sasuke held out his hand. Obito quirked a brow but moved to clasp it with his own. There was a small flash of light and the slight smell of singed skin. Ripping his hand away, Obito looked down to find a softly smoking seal etched into his hand. “What the fuck!”

 

“Temporary, hopefully. I can’t have you teleporting away the minute we’re off this rock.” With that, Sasuke turned and leaped from the edge of the pillar. Obito’s heart stopped.

 

Suddenly, the clouds surrounding the pillar disappear, and Obito comes to the slow realization that they were not, in fact, in the stratosphere.

 

Sasuke lifts one eyebrow from where he stands in front of the raised surface which only reached to about his waist. “Coming?”

 

“Why  _ you-” _

 

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke turned and started walking across the rocky ground of the Mountain’s Graveyard. “Hurry up, we have a long way to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obito fucked me up. It was a struggle figuring out the timeline with the way I wanted to include him. In the end, I'm not overly worried about the timeline because I can't make much sense of Kishimoto's anyway and I can do whatever I want, but there were certain things I needed to happen later and I didn't realize when I planned this how much Obito has a hand in everything. Where he is in his journey effects almost every other major character's storyline, it seems. But it's worth it to include him the way I want to. :)


End file.
